


Redemption

by orphan_account



Category: Tribe Twelve
Genre: Angst and Humor, Closeted Character, Depression, Everyone Needs A Hug, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Maybe there will be CURSWAIN, Noah's mom is a bitch, Psychological Trauma, Suicidal Thoughts, Trying to be as realistic as possible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-06-06 09:19:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6748075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Observer, who was the strongest and most respected of the Collective, betrays his Keeper with the help of Firebrand and has to live with Noah until Firebrand comes up with another plan. Only a foolish person would think that The Keeper wouldn't put up a fight, though. They have something else in store for Noah, and they know Firebrand and The Observers weakness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

It was dark outside on a Tuesday night.

The streetlights were dimly lit and were flickering every now and then. All the houses were quiet, and their lights were turned out. Except for one. Noah Maxwell’s house.

The house was mostly like the rest, but one with good eyes could see a small white light in the bedroom window.

The Observer, who was standing on the other side of the road of his house, could see the flickering light shining just a little. The Observer honestly felt bad for Noah, and at this point he didn’t want to hurt him anymore, but it wasn’t his choice. It was the Keepers.

 

But not for long.

Firebrand, one of the Observers former enemies, knew about the impasse, and he just so happened to know how to break his Keepers influence. So they were going to meet here.

The Observer still didn’t totally trust Firebrand, and he was sure the feeling was mutual. But despite this, The Observer was almost never serious. He was mischievous. But tonight he had to be serious.

Observers eyes flicked over to the side and saw Firebrand standing there, waiting patiently. The Observer came over to him without a word and Firebrand teleported them away from the human world.

 

They were in the Collective’s realm. A monochrome, eerie and forest like place that stretched on for nearly an eternity. They were on the outskirts of the borders. One could tell by looking at the sky.

 

“So.” Firebrand said suddenly. The Observer turned and looked over at the other man curiously. “You are not playing a game here, correct?” Came Firebrands voice, and The Observer shook his head. “Good.”

“How did you learn to break someone’s influence again?” The Observer questioned, and Firebrand sighed. “HABIT. Now Come on, follow me.” Where exactly were they going? The Observer didn’t know.

 

“Now, i’m going to need you to hold still during the process, otherwise it might hurt you more that it already will.” Firebrand said simply, and The Observer shuddered slightly. “How bad does it hurt..?” The Observer asked, and Firebrand laughed. “Its the worst thing you’ll ever feel, but its worth it.” The Observer went silent. He knew Firebrand was right. 

The Observer sat on the ground, in some sort of basement, and his arms were tied upwards with a rope. Firebrand paced the room, trying to prepare himself for what was probably going to take up all of his energy. The Observer sighed and shifted uncomfortably, waiting. Finally, Firebrand stopped, and looked at I’m intently. “Okay.” Firebrand sighed. The Observer looked down, not wanting to see Firebrand look at him so seriously. “You ready?” Firebrand asked, and The Observer nodded and clenched his eyes shut.

Firebrand walked towards him, before stopping about five feet in front of him and looking down at the other man. He held his arm out and, without warning, sent a wave of pain all through The Observer’s body.

The Observer tried not to scream, and he only whimpered. He stayed perfectly still but that was also incredibly hard. Then Firebrand did it again, but it hurt even worse and The Observer cried out in pain just a little bit. But he was still as immovable as a statue. Firebrand looked at him and he finally brought the rest of the pain down on him. In was constant, excruciating pain, and The Observer screamed out for just a moment. His breathing was heavy, and voices, no, memories, were washing through his mind.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure, Kevin.” 

“You seem a little down.”

“Maybe thats because I’m not drunk.”

“Yeah, but just in general. You seem sad lately.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He heard people trying to speak to him, and it was all he could hear. Kevin’s memories were blurred together with his, and at this point, he was so lost in the memories that he couldn’t feel the pain.

“Be honest, Noah. Something is wrong.”

“I am being honest. I’m fine.”

“Noah, please.”

“…”

The Observers eyes slowly closed, and he let the voices soothe him into slumber. Noah. He could hear Noah calling to him.

“Noah..?”

“….You really want me to be honest?”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”


	2. 2

“Swain.” Came a voice from behind the masked man looking out the window. Swain turned and saw Deadhead looking at him, and despite the fact that he, too, had a mask on, Swain could sense a grim tone in his voice. “Yes, Deadhead?” Swain asked, looking into the burning eyes of his old enemy.

“The Observer is gone.” He said simply, and Swain had to keep himself from his eyes widening in shock. “Where to?” Came his reply, but he already knew the answer. “We don’t know. We can’t detect him. All I know is that there will be a meeting about his disappearance in the Meeting Room. The Keeper knows the answer.” Swain sighed and looked down for a moment, shuffling his feet, before replying.

“He always does.”

 

Everyone was seated in the large round table that took up most of the Meeting Rooms space, and they were all waiting for the Keeper to arrive. The Observer’s seat was empty, which made the whole meeting feel empty and meaningless. He had always been the one leading the meetings, until now.

Even Firebrand was here. Firebrand, who was rouge, still had to come to the meeting even after his betrayal, which was strange. He usually acted calm enough during the meetings, though. But this time was different. He looked.. suspicious.  
His eyes were darting back and forth whenever anyone tried to talk to him or ask him what was going on. Swain sensed some sort of fear in Firebrands tone when he spoke, too. It was clearly obvious he knew something.

Everyone was talking to one another. Some people were frantic, while the older and wiser ones stayed calm. 

Swain still made the mistake of calling their little group ‘people’, and while Swain was talking to Persolus he would constantly be corrected, switching ‘people’ to ‘proxies’. But just as he started to fight with Persolus again a loud wave of white noise screeched across the entire room, and everyone fell silent.

The Keeper stood as still as a stick in front of the table of proxies, and all of them looked over to the Keeper’s blank, Faceless head to show they were listening. The Keeper seemed relatively satisfied with this, and it motioned for Cursor to walk over beside him.  
She sulkily rose out of her chair and walked over to him, and The Keeper took complete control of her so he could speak.  
Turning over to the table of proxies again, her voice boomed out across the entire room.

“Proxies. It seems that a hurdle has caught up to us in our…. epidemic. Our most respected and well known proxy, The Observer, has disappeared. I have called you all to this meeting to share the information I have uncovered this far…”

Her voice had a deep, double toned voice, which was common for proxies that were used for communication.  
Everyone waited for the explanation of why the high ranked proxy was gone.

“It seems… That he has left us.”

Everyone gasped, and they started to talk frantically to one another in panic. Some proxies even rose out of their seats and started yelling at the others seated in the tables.

“SILENCE!” Rang out the Keeper’s voice, and everyone fell silent once again.

“We will find The Observer, and when we do… We will punish him. Along with whoever aided his escape. Luckily….” The Keeper said, before looking over at Firebrands scared but triumphant face, “I believe I already know who it was that helped him.”

 

☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉

 

The Observer woke with a start when he felt rain gently hitting his face. Opening his eyes he saw a cloudy gray sky above him, with rain sprinkling all around. He sat up and looked around, before realizing that he was in Victor Park. He had been laying on his back, at the very top of the observation tower. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, before remembering what had happened. He stood up and looked at his hands. There was no shadowy black aura covering his body, but instead he was wearing Kevin’s clothes. He tried to wrap his head around this, but he only ended up smiling, tears slowly forming in his eyes. “Oh… Oh God….. He actually did it.. I’m free…” He said softly before buying his face into his hands and crying in happiness.  
He didn’t care that he was getting soaked from the now pouring rain, he didn’t care that he heard thunder, he was free. 

After a few minutes of this, he lifted up his glasses and wiped his tear stained eyes with his hoody and looked around again, trying not to smile too much. He started walking down the steps of the observation tower, and as soon as he was off the tower he began sprinting away from the boardwalk.

The only problem with being free right now was that he didn’t really have a place to go yet. But he didn’t really care at the moment. He would worry about it later.

He continued to run down the wooden boardwalk until he made it to Victor Parks’ entrance, which is where the parking lot was. Surprisingly, he saw Firebrand leaning on one of the cars, waiting for him. The Observer stopped and looked at Firebrand, who chuckled lightly. “Looks like you’re having fun.” 

The Observer only smiled, and without any warning, he walked up and hugged him.  
Firebrand hesitated, but after a second he gently patted the other man on the back before pulling away. “Th-thank you..” The Observer stuttered, and Firebrand didn’t know if he was stuttering out of embarrassment or from the rain making him cold.  
Firebrand noticed The Observer was shaking and he unlocked his car. He gestured for The Observer to get in the passengers seat and he happily complied, hoping it would be warmer in the car.

Just as he hoped, the car was warm, and The Observer shut the car door to prevent the heat from leaving. “I didn’t know you had a car.” The Observer said as Firebrand started the car. “Yeah, well, its a rental.” Firebrand replied, smirking sarcastically. “Oh, and if you’re still cold, you can use the blanket in the back.” The Observer looked behind him and saw a fuzzy white blanket folded up on one of the seats. He reached back and grabbed it, before wrapping himself in it and leaning back a little bit.

Firebrand chuckled, but then The Observer remembered that Firebrand said there was a meeting today. About him escaping The Keepers influence.  
“What happened at that meeting?” The Observer asked, and Firebrand sighed as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove back onto the main road. “The Keeper knows.” He said simply. “Knows what..?” The Observer asked fearfully. “Knows that it was me who helped you.” The Observer turned towards the front window for a moment, before sighing and looking back at the other man. “I’m sorry.”  
Firebrand chucked. “Its alright, I was already shunned from the Keeper anyways.”

The road stretched on, and as Firebrand drove his car down the road, The Observer had dozed off to sleep. When Firebrand noticed he chuckled slightly and gently moved strands of hair out of his face. He wondered where The Observer could stay, and he immediately thought of Noah. He shook the crazy idea out of his head at first, but maybe if Firebrand talked to Noah about it, he would understand. After a moment he sighed. It was the only lead he had, and he would have to take the risk.

Just then The Observer opened his eyes and asked softly, “Where are we going?” 

“Noah’s house.”


	3. 3

“Noah.”

Noah woke with a start, and he was surrounded by darkness. He could faintly seethe out line of his room, and he turned the light on.

Firebrand stood in the corner of the room, holding somebody wrapped in a blanket, and Noah yelled out in surprise and fell off his bed. “F-Firebrand?!” Noah said in a shocked tone as he stood up.

“Yes, me.” Firebrand said in a calm tone. Noah was freaking out as he backed up against a wall and tried to look angry, but it didn’t work.   
Firebrand only sighed and looked at him pleadingly. Noah hesitantly calmed down and looked at the other man, who was being held by Firebrand. Was that…?

“Is that… The Observer!?” Noah said as he looked up at Firebrand, and he nodded.  
“Is he… Dead..?” Noah asked suspiciously. He walked over to Firebrand to see The Observer’s face. His eyes were closed, but when Noah gently put a hand on The Observer’s chest, one of his eyes opened, causing Noah to tense up and quickly back away.  
The Observer turned over to look at Noah’s shocked face and tried to smile kindly, but Noah didn’t see it as kind. Noah looked at Firebrand, angry and confused, but Firebrand shook his head.

“He won’t hurt you. I broke his influence.”

A puzzled look crossed Noah’s face and he looked at The Observer again. “You what?” Noah asked, confused.  
“I broke his influence to The Collective. He is free to do as he pleases.” When that answer only confused Noah more, Firebrand continued. “Have you ever wondered why The Collective was so ‘bad’?” Noah shook his head, which was what Firebrand thought his answer would be, and he kept going. “Its because of The Keeper. No one in The entire Collective wants to hurt you, but The Keeper makes them. So I broke The Observers influence, and he WON’T hurt YOU.” Firebrand snapped.

Noah flinched from Firebrands angry tone, but after a moment Firebrand calmed down and set The Observer onto Noah’s bed so he could stretch his arms.  
Noah sighed. “So….What now, then?”   
Firebrand looked at him, still a little angry. “Now, he stays with you until I can free the others.” Firebrand said.

At first, Noah got very angry, and he was about to shout. He didn’t want The Observer in his house!But when he saw Firebrands angry face he quickly surrendered. “Fine.” Noah said angrily.   
Firebrand smiled at the answer he got. “Good. I’ll be back in a few days, but for now…” He looked at The Observer, “Make sure no one goes after him, Observer.” The Observer nodded quietly and Noah slowly started to calm down a bit.

And with that, Firebrand was gone, leaving only Noah and The Observer, who was still on his bed and wrapped in a blanket. For a moment, Noah just stood there, looking at The Observer quietly.   
Slowly, The Observer’s head turned to look at Noah, who had an unreadable expression on his face. 

Was it anger? Confusion? Worry? The Observer couldn’t tell. 

The Observer slowly got up and rubbed his eyes, letting the blanket fall off of him. Noah saw that he was a little damp. Probably from the pouring rain. He didn’t know what else to say, so he quietly asked, “Do you need some warm clothes, maybe…?” The Observer looked up at Noah for a second, but he didn’t answer. 

After a moment the Observer stood up, and he slowly started walking over towards Noah. Noah immediately tensed up in fear, but he wouldn’t run.   
Finally after a moment the Observer came up to him and looked at him sincerely.   
He looked… sad.

Suddenly, without any warning, The Observer wrapped his arms around Noah and pulled him into a hug. Noah froze. He didn’t know what to do. After a moment he felt The Observer start to cry just little bit and Noah wrapped his arms around him on impulse. 

After just a few seconds The Observer went from crying just a little bit to sobbing into Noah’s shoulders. Noah gently stroked the taller mans hair and finally he just let his head rest on The Observer’s shoulder.   
“Im so sorry…” The Observer whispered softly, and Noah suddenly pulled away to look at The Observer in the eyes. His dark brown eyes stared into Noah and he rubbed his eyes again, wiping off the tears.

“its….” Noah began, and The Observer slowly looked at Noah, waiting. “It’s…. It’s alright.” Observer looked at him, a little shocked from Noah’s response, and he stayed silent so Noah could continue.

“If what Firebrand said was true, and I trust him, then the only one I’m mad at right now is the ‘Keeper.’

The Observer calmed down then. He sighed, letting his body relax and sat back down on the bed. Noah looked at him again and smiled softly. “So… You want dry clothes or..?”

The Observer chuckled slightly. “Sure.”


	4. 4

Noah slowly stirred as a soft cool breeze brushed past his face, moving a small lock of hair out of his face. His brows furrowed together and he twitched, before slowly opening his eyes.

He saw the ceiling fan from his room slowly spinning above him, while a small light shone from the side of the window curtains. He blinked slowly before sitting up on his bed. He yawned and got out of bed before stretching his arms.

Suddenly, his eyes opened, and everything seemed to pause.

Where was The Observer?

He quickly scanned his room, he opened closets, checked under his bed, everything, but he wasn't there. He scurried out of his room and checked the bathroom, but he wasn't there either. Where had he gone? The last thing he remembered was giving him dry clothes and passing out on the bed. Had The Observer gotten mad? Did he get drugged? What happened? 

He started walking down the stairs and he looked over to the couch. Thank god, there was something that looked like a person laying down on the couch. 

He quickly walked over to the couch and saw the Observer sleeping quietly. His slow breathing finally calmed Noah down once he realized that The Observer was still here. 

Just like that, Noah yawned and sat down on the armchair next to the couch. Rubbing his eyes, he looked back over at the other man, thinking.

He still couldn't believe the Observer hasn't tried to kill him yet. He still didn't totally trust him, and he was still afraid of him. Even if Firebrand was right, it was still The Observer that had technically made his life a living hell. But if The Observer was free now, maybe things would get better...

 

As if on cue, The Observer slowly started to stir, and once his eyes opened, he turned over and saw Noah looking down at him with an unreadable look.

"Hm... Morning....Keeper..." the Observer mumbled quietly, stretching his arms and yawning. Noah paused and looked at him in confusion.

"Keeper?" 

The Observer sat up and looked at him, still half asleep, but after a moment his eyes widened, and he looked around. Finally, after a few moments, he remembered what had happened the day before. "Oh..." The Observer said, still in a daze.

Noah didn't mind too much, but it was a little strange that he didn't remember for a moment there. Then again, Noah hadn't really thought about last night either. He could remember it, but it wasn't really on his mind. Probably because most of it was a blur. Firebrand showed up, dropped the Observer off, and disappeared. Then the Observer... um... hugged him.. 

That was weird. But at the same time, it was the first ounce of kindness someone had given him in a long time, so it was still acceptable. Even if it was the Observer. After that, Noah couldn't really remember the rest of the night.

The Observer noticed Noah staring into space, and he slowly reached out an arm and snapped his fingers, bringing Noah back into reality abruptly. 

Noah's eyes flicked over to the other man, and once he saw his hand still in front of his face, he gently pressed his head against the other man's hand.

The Observer didn't seem to have too much of a reaction, and after just a few moments, Noah pulled away and leaned back into his armchair.

The Observer let his hand drop to his side, and stayed silent. They both waited for the other to say something, but they were both silent. It was kinda awkward. 

 

The Observer finally spoke up after a moment, to try to erase the tension. "So.... are you okay?" Noah blinked, trying to process the question. "What do you mean?" 

"Are you still mentally stable?" The  Observer said in a stern voice, and Noah sighed. "What do you think?" 

The Observer Luckily understood what Noah meant, and he switched the subject. "Why did you do that?" The Observer asked simply, and Noah turned back to look at him, annoyed. He was still a little mad. "Do what?" He snapped. "Why did you put your head on my hand like that?"

 

Noah sighed and looked away again. "I dunno. Cause I wanted to." 

Great. Noah went back to his stubborn self. Oh well, he should have seen it coming.

Noah suddenly got up and walked away from The Observer, going back up the stairs, before sulking to his room and closing the door quickly.

The Observer just watched as he left and turned back to look down at his hands. He didn't really know what to do now. On one hand, he snapped at him, and got mad super fast, but on the other hand, he leaned into his hand and let The Observer hug him the other night. Noah acted practically bipolar, but it didn't surprise him all that much. There had to have been many things wrong with him at this point.

The Observer had to remember all the things Noah had been through, because of him.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Hmmm... it seems that he's found refuge with Noah. Strange." 

Deadhead was looking through the window of Noah Maxwell's  house, intrigued. While it was true that Noah seemed very angry... he certainly was being better than Deadhead thought.

Deadhead was supposed to have found the Observer hours ago, it had taken him a bit longer to be located. 

He was supposed to report this back to the Collective immediately, but he couldn't help but watch these two interact. It had been... maybe an hour? 

Finally he allowed himself to fade away from the human realm, and back into his own. As he walked in the black and white atmosphere, he could tell something was off. The trees seemed to sway more, and a strange feeling kept creeping up his spine.

He smelled fire and smoke faintly, and he started to walk faster, but the farther he went, the worse it got. It seemed to slowly get a little warmer and Deadhead finally stopped. He was being followed.

He looked all around him, and the air got heavy and hot. The trees blew all around him, and a sickening wave of nausea washed through him. It had been a while since he felt sick, he didn't even know it was possible for a proxy to GET sick. 

He shivered, and after a moment he closed his eyes, gently rubbing his forehead to try to make him feel better. "Who's there?" Deadhead called out angrily. He heard a laugh go off in the distance, but Deadhead stood his ground. It was his duty to kill trespassers, and who ever was with him clearly did not have a good intention.

Deadhead took out his pistol, and tried to call out again, but this sickness that he had gotten slowly got to the point where he couldn't even speak. He felt like he was on fire, everything looked red and orange, and he thought he might die.

Without even realizing it, Deadhead had fallen to the ground, laying on his back and staring off into space. He couldn't even move. "Ugh...." Deadhead groaned. 

 

Suddenly, he saw a figure appear above him. Deadhead was relieved at first to see another proxy, but then he realized who it was.

Firebrand.

Deadhead didn't care. "Help..." Deadhead managed to choke out. Firebrand only smiled wickedly at him. "Hmm... you need MY help?" Deadhead nodded and he heard Firebrand chuckle. "I'll make you a deal." Firebrand said in his smug tone. Deadhead groaned from the nausea, he should have seen this coming. Firebrand was doing this to him, and the only way to stop it was to make this 'deal' with him.

"What.. Do you want...." Deadhead managed to murmur.

Firebrand leaned close to his ear and spoke quietly.

"What you saw today... You tell no one. Got it?" 

Deadhead processed this question. So he had to lie. To keep Noah safe.   
He glared at Firebrand, all though he was sure that Firebrand couldn't tell because of the mask. 

"Come on now, Deadhead. I know you aren't the most loyal of The Collective. Just say you couldn't find The Observer. Tell your Keeper that his signal is gone. You'll be perfectly ok." 

Deadhead had no other choice. Just as he was about to pass out he finally croaked out "fine."

 

Just then, everything stopped. The nausea stopped, the wind stopped blowing, and the forest turned back to its normal black and white coloration.

He shakily got up and started walking back towards The Keepers domain, where everyone was waiting. That strange feeling was still there, and he knew Firebrand Was watching him. He came up to the large wooden doors and pushed them open. Everyone was seated at the meeting table waiting for him, including the Keeper.

"Deadhead. What have you found?" Cursor said, in the Keepers voice. He was still using her as the messenger.

The Keeper was not one to have small talk. He got right to the point.

"His signal was lost."

Everyone turned to look at him, but Deadhead stayed calm. He was very respected, and he knew they would believe him.

"Unfortunate. I will have to look for him myself." The Keeper murmured.

Suddenly, Cursors control was given back and The Keeper slowly rose up out of his chair. "I will go look for them." The Keeper slowly said telepathically. Everyone nodded and watched as The Keeper vanished into the human world.

Deadhead nervously started to walk to his own room when he heard Persolus speak to him. 

"You're lying, aren't you?" 

Deadhead turned back, and as firmly as possible, he leaned close him him and spoke bitterly to him,

"What I have said is what you will believe. Stay out of my business."

With that, Deadhead turned back to the stairs and walked back up to his room.

 

He thought he saw Firebrand smirking at him from outside the window.


	5. A Keeper and a Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so unbearably long to update, but I've had so many ideas for this chapter. Anyways, enjoy.

Cursor awoke to a loud knock on her room door. She quickly rose to her senses and got up, and apon sprinting over to the door and opening it she found Deadhead on the other side. "Cursor." He said quickly. He sounded rushed, and she immediately noticed he was panting. "Deadhead..? Did you run here?" He nodded his head, and, without any warning, grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her room, leading her down the long hallway towards the library. Cursor stumbled a bit from the sudden movement and looked up at Deadhead angrily. "What are you doing?!" She said, agitated. Deadhead didn't answer, instead he just turned a corner and walked into the library doors. He gripped her arm tighter and as soon as he saw that the library was empty, he turned to Cursor and let her go.

"Deadhead, wha-"

He quickly covered her mouth and closed the door behind them, before whispering quietly to her. "Can I trust you?"

Cursor hesitated. What did he want? She thought for a while, but there was really nothing that could make Cursor that angry. She hesitantly nodded, and Deadhead sighed in relief.

He walked over to the table in the middle of the library and beckoned Cursor to take a seat, which she soon did. Deadhead rubbed his temples and looked up at Cursor, who looked beyond confused with him.

"Firebrand. I saw him yesterday." Deadhead finally said. He didn't beat around the bush, or try to sugarcoat anything.

Cursors eyes widened, but quickly stopped because the tape over her eyes were coming off a little. She looked at him suspiciously, before finally relaxing. "I'm listening. Continue."

"I know where Noah went, but Firebrand attacked me. He made me so sickly I couldn't move, and he made me promise not to say where Noah went."

Cursor nodded slowly. "Sounds like something he would do." 

"What should I do...?" Deadhead said, anxious, and Cursor shook her head. "Nothing. The Keeper will find Noah himself." Deadhead seemed to relax at hearing her say that, and he nodded quietly.

Deadhead, after a moment, got out of his chair. He looked at her and after a moment he spoke. "That made me feel a bit more at ease. Thanks. I really do feel bad for that Noah kid.” Cursor got up as well and pushed her chair in before heading for the door.

“And i’m sure you do too. He’s you’re nephew, after all.”

After only a moment, Cursors eyes widened and she quickly turned around, only to see that Deadhead was gone. She stood there, dumbfounded, before finally turning around and heading back for her room.

“Great. Now he knows that too.”

She turned back around and headed towards her room. Every now and then she turned her head to see if Deadhead would be there. He scared her sometimes.

Regardless, Deadhead had known where Noah was the entire time and he lied. That was insanely brave to pull off, and Cursor would have never been able to do something against The Keeper, despite her hatred for him.

Maybe that's why she killed Mi-

Her thoughts were quickly cut off when she felt a tap on her back. She thought there was a tap anyways, but when she turned around no one was there. 

It was getting a little hot, and she was completely alone. No one could have poked her. Must have been her imagination.

Was there an orange tint? It looked a little orange, like fire.

Suddenly there was another tap, but when she turned back, no one was there that time either.

She was getting really scared now, and she saw her room door ahead. She sprinted over to the door and unlocked it as fast as she could.

She opened the door and almost screamed. Firebrand was sitting on her bed, waiting. She tried to contain herself as she shut the door behind her and stared at him in fear. He only smiled and he got off the bed. He stood right in front of him, just a little shorter than her. He chuckled from Cursors lack of response and clapped his hands loudly, shaking her out of her trance.

"Stop that!" Cursor said angrily. "They'll hear you!" Firebrand smirked. "Oh, I'm not afraid of you're shadowy housemates." He said sarcastically. 

She glared at him through her taped eyes, and crossed her arms. "You should be! After what happened at the meeting, everyone's been looking for you!"

Firebrand only laughed, clearly without fear,and moved some hair out of his face before speaking. "In all seriousness, Cursor, The Keeper is getting weaker. He needs the journal. Why haven't you run yet, if you're so against him?"

Cursor scoffed a little from the stupid question. "Because, if I were to run, like you and The Observer, The Keeper would see a trend, and he would most likely punish everyone else." 

That comment seemed to interest the man in front of her, as he raised a curious eyebrow and looked at her mischievously. "Oh? Who are you trying to protect so much?" 

Cursor looked at him angrily. "Everyone!"

"Come on Cursor. There's someone here that you feel particularly fond of." Firebrand came closer to her and eyed her suspiciously. "Who?" He asked, in a quiet yet stubborn voice.

Cursor wouldn’t budge. “None of your business.”  
Firebrand laughed a bit, before trying to guess who it was. “Is it Swain?”

Cursor’s eyes snapped up. “No! You know he’s an old, dead Nazi soldier, right?!” 

Firebrand chuckled and shook his head. “True. Are you trying to protect Persolus?”

“Persolus is an ass.”

Firebrand looked bored from this game already. Impatient bastard. “Alright Cursor. Tell me who then.

“No.”

Firebrand looked angry. She was going to have to tell him, wasn’t she?

“Cursor, if you don’t-“

"Milo. I’m trying to protect Milo.“

The room went silent, and Cursor realized she had made a mistake.

Firebrand looked genuinely shocked. He stepped back slightly and his eyes widened. His smirk was gone.

"You remember him?"

Cursor nodded. "I remember everything before being ‘Cursor’. I'm not any more fond of The Keeper now then I was when I was human. I’m just afraid of him, so I listen.”

Firebrand blinked, processing what he heard, and looked at her right where her eye tape was. "So you're still Mary?"

“Yes.” 

Firebrand nodded slowly. He had a strange, unreadable expression hidden behind his eyes. He stepped forward whispered quietly to her.

"If you want to help Milo, set an example, and run. If he knew you remembered him, he’d be sure to follow. That would keep you both safe.”

And with that, Firebrand was gone, and Cursor was completely alone in her room, with more questions than answers.

She fell back onto her bed and sighed quietly.

It's gonna be a long day.

 

☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉☉

 

Noah sat in his room, quiet and alone. He didn’t want to trust The Observer, he really didn’t, but he had to.   
He wondered what the Observer was doing, but he didn’t have the energy to go downstairs and find out. He sighed. 

 

What now? Should he just sit and wait until Firebrand came back, or what? 

Noah looked over to his nightstand and his eyes briefly flicked downwards to the drawer underneath it. He slowly opened it, and took out his journal.

Not even his viewers knew about his own journal, and that was because he didn’t want The Collective to know about it. He couldn’t exactly remember who gave it to him, but he’s had it almost his entire life. He might as well write in the old, black journal again, for the first time in a month or so. He hoped The Observer wouldn’t catch him, the last thing he needed was The Observer reading all of his secrets.

He pulled out the key, that was around his neck, and unlocked it quietly. Opening it slowly, he found the page he had last been on and started writing down everything he had been thinking so far.

 

Just as he was about to be done with his fist paragraph, he suddenly heard The Observer’s voice.

 

“Noah!” He heard The Observer cry frantically.

Noah immediately shut the journal, locked it, and put it away before rushing out of his room and down the stairs.

He saw The Observer standing by the couch, staring at the window near the front door and shaking a little. “Observer..?” Noah asked quietly and The Observer quickly turned around. “The Keeper is coming! I have to hide!”

Noah’s eyes widened. “…What?” Noah asked, too shocked to move. The Observer didn’t answer, but he grabbed Noah’s hands and ran up the stairs, with Noah trying to catch up. He could hear The Observer mumbling under his breath as he ran into Noah’s room. The Observer let go of Noah’s hand and quickly shut and locked the door. “How do you know he’s coming here?” Noah said in a nervous tone.

“I can… Feel the radiation coming off him.” The Observer said in a quick tone. Noah tried to think of where they could hide, but it was too late.

He could hear a ringing in his ears. it sounded like static and a fire alarm, and Noah knew it was already here.

Noah heard The Observer cry out, but it sounded so far away… The noises were echoing, and everything sounded distant and faint. He felt lightheaded. The ground felt like it was shaking.

He felt himself fall down on to the ground, but it was like he couldn’t move. He was too weak. The Observer saw it happen and he quickly ran over to him. “Noah!” He called out, but Noah was staring into space, his eyes half closed and a blank expression on his face.

The Keeper was right outside their window, and the Observer turned and saw its blank, faceless head turned in his direction.

He gasped and turned back to Noah. Noah was mumbling incoherent words under his breath and his eyes were slowly rolling into his head. 

What was The Keeper doing to him?

Suddenly he felt the static disappear, and he turned back, only to see that The Keeper was gone.

“What….?” The Observer said, confused, and he turned back to see Noah with his eyes closed. He was passed out.

Oh God.

The Keeper wasn’t going to do something to them NOW, but he was going to do something. He was planning something and the possibilities were endless. The Entire Collective could come at any moment, or any day.

That was a bad enough punishment for leaving, for now. Paranoia.

He picked Noah up and walked over to his bed before setting him down, letting him sleep. The Observer sighed and ran a hand through Noah’s hair, deep in thought.

He was going to have to protect this kid. At all costs.

At least he wasn’t hurt. Physically anyway.

 

Just then, The Observer heard a crash. it was from downstairs. He quickly got up and scurried down the steps, leaving Noah so he could rest.

 

The Observer reached the bottom of the steps and he could faintly smell something burning. Rushing into the kitchen he saw Firebrand standing in a defensive pose.

“He came already, didn’t he?” Firebrand said frantically. The Observer nodded, and he immediately looked at the other man, with spite. “What took you so long to get here, if you knew this was going to happen?” Firebrand looked a little guilty. “I was talking to someone… when I felt The Tall Man’s radiation going towards your house. I tried to come as fast as i could, but…”

 

The Observer sighed. “Noah is ok.” Firebrand looked relieved. “Thank god..” He muttered. 

“He’s planning something. I just don’t know what yet.” The Observer said quietly.

 

Firebrand sighed. “He’s always planning something.”   
The Observer shook his head. “He’s planning something BIG. Something we don’t know about, and I have a feeling Noah will be in the crossfire.”

They both stood there, deep in thought, and they found themselves thinking of all the things The Keeper could do to them.

“Are you going to stay here?” The Observer asked, and Firebrand shook his head. “Sadly, I have someone else I need to talk to.”

“Who?”

“Probably Swain, maybe Mr. Scars.”

The Observer nodded. “I see.”

They both walked upstairs and into Noah’s room. He was still fast asleep. “Is he getting used to you yet?” Firebrand asked. “Sorta.” The Observer’s replied.

“Good.”

“So The Keeper knows we’re here… Now we need to wait.” Firebrand said softly.

“Wait for what?” The Observer asked.

“Wait for whatever he has planned. Im going to have to tell HABIT about this tonight.” 

They both sat in silence, watching Noah intently.

 

Now they wait.


End file.
